"Wishing Ghost I" & "Wishing Ghost II" is a concept based on a particular conversation I over the summer of 2017 about the positives of knowing you will die. 

This is obviously something that will make some uncomfortable, and I understand that, but for me, my death is the end of my work and my purpose, so while I am alive, that labor and purpose must be addressed. A deadline is just that, and I do not see that as a negative. It keeps me honest. 

I knew I wanted to portray these ideas in some way, but my immediate concepts felt too easy, perhaps a bit of low hanging fruit. 

Furthermore, I don't ever want my work to portray death as scary or evil; there is no value in using my art to villainize something that we will all do. 

So I scrapped those plans; and decided to start over. 

Whenever I do that, I like to take Gus on a walk to mull things around immediately and start fresh. This time he (of course) walked right into an overgrown patch of the sidewalk that was full of seeding dandelions. It was the contrast of the seeds against his dark fur that got my brain thinking. 

By the time I got home, I didn't even need to sketch out my idea. I found the perfect broken doll feet on Etsy and told my apartment complex not to be worried if they see me out weeding. 

Within 12 hours of the feet arriving I had the finished work in front of me.

 

I just love these little guys; these simple ones are often are the hardest to trust my instincts with, but as soon as I saw this in my head, I knew I'd be happy with it.